TikTok on Wednesday said it would introduce automatic daily screen time limits of one hour for accounts belonging to under-18s, as the social media platform faces criticism over its addictiveness among young users.
Teenagers will have to enter a passcode to continue watching after 60 minutes, and those aged below 13 require a parent or guardian to set or enter a passcode to release an additional 30 minutes, TikTok said.
The short-form video-sharing app said the changes would be implemented “in the coming weeks”.
If a young person’s access to TikTok is via a family pairing account, parents can set a maximum screen time for their child based on the day of the week, TikTok added.
The Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, is restricted to 40 minutes of daily use for under-14s and is inaccessible for them between 10pm and 6am.